SHO, four other cops held for collecting Rs2m from suspect’s family

The station house officer (SHO) of the New Karachi Industrial Area police station and four other policemen were arrested on Friday after a video went viral on social media which showed them warning an arrested man’s family of killing him in a fake encounter if they did not bribe them.

The video also showed the cops collecting Rs2 million from the family of the arrested man said to be a drug peddler. As the police threatened the family with extrajudicial killing of their loved one, the suspect’s brother made their video secretly and later uploaded it on social media.

As the video went viral, police high-ups took notice of it and apprehended the cops. The arrested policemen include SHO Younus Khattak, ASI Riaz Siyal, Constable Waleed and Constable Ajab Gul. A case has been registered against them.

The New Karachi Industrial Area police had arrested the suspected drug peddler, Iqbal, alias Huzoor Buksh, on May 31. The investigation has revealed that a total of 35 kilogrammes of hashish were seized from his possession, which the SHO had misstated as 10 kilogrammes.

It has also been revealed that the arrested cops had divided the amount of Rs2 million among themselves.